He tried to kiss the fish he’d just caught. It wriggled down his throat instead

An angler in southern England was so happy with his catch that he tried to kiss it. It nearly cost him his life.

The 28-year-old man, whose name was not released, was fishing on Boscombe Pier in Bournemouth on Oct. 5 when he caught a 6-inch Dover sole, reports The Guardian. He tried to kiss the fish as a joke, but it wriggled free and slipped down his throat into his windpipe.

He collapsed and stopped breathing for three minutes, says The Telegraph. Bystanders performed CPR until an ambulance arrived. By that time, he’d gone into cardiac arrest.

The ambulance team tried to remove the fish with forceps but its barbs and quills complicated the job. After five failed attempts, the angler’s prognosis was growing dire.

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“I was acutely aware that I only had one attempt at getting this right as if I lost grip or a piece broke off and it slid further out of sight then there was nothing more that we could have done to retrieve the obstruction,” ambulance worker Matt Harrison said, according to the BBC. Harrison successfully removed the fish and the ambulance crew revived the angler, who was later released from the hospital with no ill effects.

“I have never attended a more bizarre incident and don’t think I ever will,” Harrison said, according to The Bournemouth Daily Echo.

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